Design and thermal performance: Below-ground dwellings in China: Gideon S. Golany. 1990. University of Delaware Press. 163 pp. $US39.50
- Publisher
- Elsevier Science
- Year
- 1990
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 138 KB
- Volume
- 5
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0886-7798
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✦ Synopsis
The editors invite books, proceedings, and research reports on the planning, management, design, construction, and use of underground space, and on work in related fields, as well as abstracts and announcements of these publications, to be sent to Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology for inclusion in the Publications section.
Design and Thermal Performance: Below-Ground Dwellings in China. Gideon S. Golany. 1990. University of Delaware Press. 163 pp. $US39.50.
In China today, 30 to 40 million people live in dwellings below ground. The author shows how Chinese below-ground dwellings provide a comfortable ambient environment, along with low construction costs.
Two types of earth-sheltered dwellings have delveloped in China: the pit habitat, constituting a deep aptio open to the sky and usually surrounded by eight articulated, vaulted rooms; and the cliff dwelling, constructed with a wide terrace formed by earth excavated from the rooms dug into the cliffside. The cliff-type dwellings use land that is not usually suitable for agriculture.
This book is the product of a field survey analysis of the correlation between the form and design of six cliff-type and six pit-type belowground dwellings, and how the thermal performance of the soil affects them. These twelve case studies represent different geographical and cultural environments.
The book focuses on the design, evolution, and configuration of Chinese below-ground dwellings and the process of heat gain and loss correlated with this design. A prime theme of the book is to introduce the vernacular experience in this field to the designer of modern below-ground space.
The book may be ordered from